Holy crying out Illini ...........

[HoyaLawya]

Granted, a team with only one starting senior (Turiaf) and a mess of starting soph's is no match for a team like the Illini with 5 returning starters BUT ......... holy schnikies, Batman! What a shellacking the Zags are taking at the Wooden Tradition. (Being carried on YES network here in NYC metro area ....... so I'm livin' this nightmare large.)

We better get braced for what might be a-comin' when the Hoyas play host to this team. I'm seeing "Final Four" written all over Bruce Weber's team for this season. They're bombing 3's like no tomorrow with their 3 guard play. The frontcourt advantage means nothing.

[Nevada Hoya]

HoyaLawya, sorry about the poor showing against Illinois; I had hoped it would be competitive. Maybe they are saving it for the GT game. ;D

Poor weekend for the WCC, as UP women's soccer lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the NCAA, 3-1; ouch!

[HoyaLawya]

"poor showing" are not the two words that are coming to my mind, Nevada ........... horror show? Yes. "Conseco Nightmare"? Yes, that vocabulary would also fit.

Makes me feel like the Hoyas having Illini at MCI Center could potentially be a case of a Duke Deja Vu from last year, and might leave our players feeling totally outclassed. (Cringe ... ) The bombardment of 3's from Dee and Deron and Luther and company was like "shock and awe" .......... if I may borrow from the military phraseology of March '03.

We here in HoyaLand need to brace ourselves and keep repeating the mantra "It will be a LEARNING experience ....... it will be a LEARNING experience."



Sorry to hear about UP. Need to check up on whether SCU will carry the soccer banner forward for the WCC. Meanwhile, their hoops team had post-Tarheel "letdown" and lost to Pacific. Which was NCAA good last season so maybe it's not all that shameful a loss, but ..... still ...........

[hoyanick]

I think that HoyaBlue, involved Hoya basketball student-fans, anyone...but SOMEONE should start a massive PR-effort in order to get a great turn-out for the Illinois game.

Attendance at the Duke game last year was great, but THAT name sells itself. Illinois is just as good, and the players will need the level of support that we gave them against Duke.

I believe the game is on December 9th, unfortunately during study days. That means that the "get-out-the-fanbase" effort will have to be especially strong.

I would be willing to help if anyone has connections/ideas.

[HoyaLawya]

Heck yes ......... get the Hoya troops out there. From what I could see, this year's version of the Illini is better than anything Duke has put together in awhile.

And can a home crowd take a well-ranked team "out of their game" on foreign turf (even if it IS the environs of the MCI Center???) Just ask little Pepperdine with their fans' "start your tractors!" derision of ranked Wisconsin in Malibu last night.

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/10286912.htm

[Nevada Hoya]

HoyaLawya, it looks as if it might be a SCU-Notre Dame final in NCAA soccer.

[HoyaLawya]

Semi-final. ;D

Always tough when it's a WCC vs. Big East kind of thing. But ................ in deference to where so many tuition dollars got spent ......... Go Broncos!

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

IT will be a good experience to play a top caliber team like this so our guys can get a feel for how it should be done. I think this game could get ugly but I also thought that against Cuse & Pitt last year and we came within a couple buckets of dropping both.